


The Fires that Burn

by pastmistakes



Category: Naruto, Silent Hill (2006), Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (2012)
Genre: F/M, Intersex, M/M, Multi, Not Beta Read, Other, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:07:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27299143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastmistakes/pseuds/pastmistakes
Summary: The darkness spread throughout Konoha like a festering wound, corroding and burning everything in its wake, maiming and mauling everyone they had sworn to defend - warping them into grotesque and violent monstrosities.Trapped in the village, Leaf and ROOT shinobi must work together to put an end to the evil that has consumed everything they once cherished.Unfortunately, Umino Iruka seems to be the exception to every rule, and there is only so much Tenzo and Kakashi can do to keep him safe.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka/Yamato | Tenzou, Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou/Umino Iruka, Yamato | Tenzou/Umino Iruka
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	The Fires that Burn

**Author's Note:**

> If you aren't familiar with the Silent Hill movies or games then I ask that you please watch the movie trailers before you read this to get an idea of what they are about (or at least to get an idea of what the monsters look like). This fic is more movie oriented because the story from the movies a lot easier to understand than the story from the games. I don't like (read hate) horror movies, but these are actually some of my favorite movies of all time. 
> 
> First movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWMGZe6iucw
> 
> Second Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b4iOhWswYM
> 
> Apologies in advance for spelling and grammar errors.

Tenzo and his team had just arrived at the ROOT ward of the hospital when the darkness first consumed Konoha. 

Still wearing their uniforms and covered in injuries and gore, they'd watched in growing confusion and horror as the darkness descended from the sky, and the pristine white hospital walls blistered, peeled, and burned away to reveal their new, ugly, rotted, rusted, _bloody_ reality. 

They'd watched helplessly as the doctors and nurses began to writhe and shriek in agony as the darkness gripped them, brutally mauling and maiming them until they were unrecognizable - warped, faceless, and murderous horrors. 

Tenzo, Kakashi, Itachi, and Yugao had just come back from one of Danzo's grueling S-rank missions, the kind that the Sandaime did not know about, the kind that Tenzo had once naively believed exposed him to the worst the world had to offer. In retrospect, it was child's play, humans hurting other humans, how petty it all seemed when monsters now roamed their streets. 

When no amount of jutsu or pain would dispel the nightmare, when they were nearly overwhelmed by the creatures - the healers that now wielded the tools of their trade like weapons, lunging in rage at their patients with scissors, scalpels, and needles - they fled to the rooftops.

There they, along with many other injured comrades who’d managed to escape, watched as the darkness and chaos spread like a plague across their once beautiful village, transforming it into a necrotic festering wound.

Shinobi throughout the village began to appear on the surrounding rooftops, like a swarm of angry and confused wasps abandoning a burning nest. Most of them headed straight for the Hokage Tower; but some, like Itachi and Kakashi and now Tenzo held priorities elsewhere - they headed for the school. 

They weren't the first to arrive there by far, but they were the only ones to find at least one of the people who they were looking for. There, standing with a kunai in his hands amongst a screaming horde of naked grey child-sized creatures, is Umino Iruka. 

Iruka's tear-stricken face says everything. 

Amazingly, Iruka is unharmed. 

Even more amazingly, Iruka's kunai isn't aimed at the tiny bodies wailing and pawing sightlessly at him as though they were crying desperately for his attention and seeking answers Iruka simply could not give them. Instead, his weapon is aimed at the growing number of shocked shinobi parents and guardians gathering on the walls and trees like ravenous locusts, fruitlessly searching the grounds and windows for any sign of plump rosy cheeks, soft hair, or wide innocent eyes. 

Even with their masks on, Tenzo knows that both Itachi and Kakashi have their Sharingan active. 

"Don't hurt them!" Iruka pleads again and again through gut retching sobs. "It’s the children! Don't hurt them!"

Disbelief, denial, and anger sour the air until someone else dares land on the school’s courtyard - Yamanaka Inoichi.

"Iruka-kun,” he asks carefully, already shaking his head in anticipation of the answer, “ _where_ are the children?" A stupid question, and Iruka looks deeply wounded by it, but Inoichi is clearly desperate - he must be looking for his daughter. 

The effect is immediate; the creatures, _the_ _children,_ turn their attention away from Iruka and towards the newcomer, running at him with the clear intent to kill. 

The Yamanaka clan head realizes his folly in an instant and quickly retreats back to safety atop the academy gates. Scanning for anything familiar among the sea of grey bodies as the creatures screech angrily at him from below; their mouths, a singular orifice on their twisted faces are unnaturally ajar to reveal tiny sharp teeth.

Kakashi is down there in the next instance, leaping forward to seize Iruka by the waist and teleport them back into the trees where Tenzo and the rest of the team are standing. 

Iruka is a panicked mess, "Don't hurt them!"

"No one is going to hurt them!" Kakashi snaps at him; he is still injured and struggles to keep Iruka from jumping back into the fray.

"Let me go! I need to help them!" Iruka sobs openly, making a spectacle of himself.

Itachi tears his eyes away from the courtyard and steps forward to deliver an unusually vicious jab to the young sensei's ribs, temporarily disabling him. Iruka’s body goes limp but he is still crying in hysterics as Tenzo steps forward to assist Kakashi with holding him up. 

Those who had been searching for their children have stopped and are now crowding around their small group. They are still in full ROOT uniforms, and soon there are hundreds of suspicious eyes on them.

Kakashi slaps the young teen after a moment, "There is nothing we can do for them now." He gives Iruka an angry shake, "We need to report to the tower."

Iruka's sobs quiet down, but they don't abate, even when they pull him into a teleportation jutsu, away from the crowd of Leaf shinobi.

They dump him unceremoniously outside the tower's gates and inspect the scene before them. A barrier has been erected but not in time to keep a large crowd of monstrous humanoid creatures out. These are different from the ones in the hospital and academy, they appear armless at first, but upon closer inspection, it looks like their arms are trapped beneath their own skin. The membrane that envelops them obscures their faces and is covered in wiry spider veins; in the middle of their chests, in place of their hearts, is a massive hole that dribbles a foul-smelling acidic fluid which they spew at the shinobi trying to restrain them.

The tower's walls are crawling with huge filthy looking cockroach-like insects. The humanoid creatures are crowding around the doors and windows of the ground floor. 

They need to get inside. They are still heavily injured and exhausted, and it is clear that there are more than enough able-bodied Leaf shinobi available to secure the perimeter. 

"This way!" Someone calls to them, pointing to a small hole in the barrier. It's Nara Shikaku, trailing behind him is Inoichi; their eyes are hard but they say nothing as Tenzo throws Iruka over his shoulder, not wanting to give Kakashi the opportunity to strain himself further. They leap into the opening, past the barrier, and into an open window. 

It's already crowded inside with injured ninja, and there are no healers to tend to them. Their group is given an extra breadth of space, and they immediately move deeper into the tower; the stream of shinobi entering the tower continues uninterrupted behind them. 

They can sense Danzo is in the Hokage's office with the Sandaime; they are useless to him now so they find a corner to rest in with some other injured ROOT members to await orders. No one questions the juxtaposition of Iruka's presence, even as they are joined by others from their organization. 

Everyone in ROOT has heard of Umino Iruka, not because he is the self-appointed guardian of the jinchikuri, or because he is the Sandaime's favorite pet project, or because he is a trouble-magnet. 

They know him because he is unequivocally Hatake Kakashi's not-so-secret crush.

Ever since the Sandaime put the jinchikuri into Iruka's care, Kakashi made it his life's mission to bully the poor kid.

Tenzo places Iruka on the ground more gently this time and pulls Iruka’s limp head onto his own lap. Tenzo allows himself to take comfort in Iruka’s scent, the warmth of Iruka’s cheek against his thigh, and the humor of just how obviously uncomfortable their position makes Kakashi.

Unlike Kakashi, Tenzo is open about his own crush on the little sensei, but unlike Kakashi, no one bothers him about it. Kakashi's childishly ardent denial of his feelings fuels the fodder that makes _him_ the target of merciless teasing from their fellow ROOT agents.

Tenzo watches in amusement as Kakashi steals glances at the distraught teen; after a few minutes of this Tenzo closes his eyes and allows himself to drift off, indulging in a memory of a better time that already feels so long ago.

_On their way to report to an evening training session the team had spotted a tan-skinned, brown-haired genin walking alongside Uchiha Sasuke and the obnoxiously loud jinchikuri. With the Hyuga kidnapping attempt fresh in their minds, they'd followed the group at Itachi's request - the genin’s features were not common to Konoha._

_Even after witnessing the genin dropping Sasuke off at the Uchiha compound and listening to him exchange a few pleasantries with the Uchiha matriarch (Itachi's grandmother calls him Iruka-kun), they continue to follow him, despite it being abundantly clear that the young man was not a threat. Oddly it was Kakashi who had been insistent, likely due to his capricious interest in the wellbeing of the jinchikuri - his late sensei’s son._

_They watched the genin grin and nod along with the jinchikuri as he babbled endlessly about this thing or that._

_Tenzo had not understood the sense of growing displeasure coming off of Kakashi until much later; after they'd watched the genin force the jinchikuri to eat an unappetizing plate of microwaved canned vegetables along with a bowl of cup ramen and scold him for leaving the water running in the bathroom sink._

_It is cute really._

_Pathetic, but cute._

_Not that Tenzo could judge, it was not like his dinner was going to be much more sophisticated._

_Kakashi corneres the young man, Iruka, in an ally after he leaves the jinchikuri’s tiny flat._

_"They'll die the minute they step out onto the battlefield because of the way you’re coddling them." Kakashi seethes._

_Tenzo says nothing but he deeply disagrees with Kakashi and he knows that Itachi probably does as well. They remain silent because while Iruka had been initially frightened and confused his eyes suddenly alight with rage as the accusation hits him._

_“You arrogant asshole!” And he **rails** at Kakashi for a good 5 minutes, going toe-to-toe and locking horns with the masked ROOT agent with absolutely unfathomable courage. _

_Tenzo finds it to be both ludicrous and admirable._

_Kakashi leaves in a huff, anger rolling off him in waves; he knows he’s overstepped his bounds but doesn’t push any further though he makes it clear that this won’t be the last time Iruka hears from him._

_When Kakashi is gone, Itachi steps forward._

_Iruka steels himself for another verbal assault, but Itachi only bows deeply, respectfully conveying his appreciation without words, and then walks towards the mouth of the alley to wait for Tenzo and Yugao._

_Yugao gives the stunned boy a surreptitious thumbs up and then follows Itachi._

_Tenzo doesn’t know what makes him do it, perhaps because being Kakashi’s ‘boyfriend’ makes him feel a little responsible for Kakashi’s outburst, but he feels the urge to touch the boy, to comfort him by giving him a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder._

_Kakashi hasn’t been in the organization since he was a child in the way that Tenzo has, so Kakashi struggles with his humanity in a different way than Tenzo does. Unlike Kakashi, who had known normalcy during the earliest years of his life, Tenzo does not have such memories to fall back on. Instead, Tenzo has lived vicariously through watching daytime soaps and observing daily village life. He knows better than to hesitate when an opportunity arises to experience human touch or emotion._

_Iruka looks at him with so much emotion that Tenzo has to catch himself from staggering backward._ _Tenzo immediately decides he is a little smitten with Iruka as he turns to follow after the others._

_“That snot-nosed little shit is Sandaime’s idea of a joke,” Kakashi explains angrily when they are all on the training field. “Danzo put in a request to bring those kids into the organization, and assigning that little bitch guard duty is his answer.”_

_“I like him,” Yugao says, her tone is uncharacteristically annoyed. She is goading Kakashi, but Kakashi reigns in his anger immediately, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of seeing his hackles rise any further._

_“He seems nice,” Itachi agrees._

_“I think he’s cute.” Tenzo adds, having no qualms with ruffling Kakashi’s feathers as retribution for his earlier embarrassingly bratty display._

_Tenzo ignores the betrayed look Kakashi gives him because even though Kakashi is older than him, Tenzo is the ranking senior member of their team. As captain, he can say whatever he wants._

_There are more encounters with Iruka that go in much a similar way. Sometimes with the whole team, sometimes it is only the three of them, and he is also pretty sure there are times when Kakashi pays the boy a visit alone. While he never asks Kakashi about it outright, Tenzo suspects that Iruka may have known Kakashi’s ANBU persona before he’d joined ROOT, though he tries not to think too hard on the wild the implications behind **that** revelation._

_Their last encounter was just between the three of them and it was by far the most memorable._

_A year and a half later, Iruka is a chunin and has a position as an assistant instructor at the academy._

_Kakashi’s crush, while not obvious to Kakashi, finally culminates in him covering Iruka’s eyes with one hand and pulling away his masks with the other in order to steal a kiss - Tenzo is jealous of the older boy for a moment until he is reminded that he has nothing to feel jealous over when Iruka slaps Kakashi for it._

_Tenzo laughs openly as Kakashi quickly replaces his masks and beats a hasty retreat, rubbing sullenly at his stinging cheek. Tenzo is usually silent during their encounters, but Iruka knows to expect comfort from him by now so Tenzo makes a gamble and asks Iruka politely for a kiss for himself._

_Iruka stutters and blushes and turns him down at first but then changes his mind three times before lunging at Tenzo. It’s quick and sloppy and he nearly misses Tenzo’s lips in his blind haste - but it’s sugar sweet and nobody gets slapped for it._

_Iruka then **thanks** Tenzo and makes a run for it. _

_Cute._

_Beyond adorable._

_When Iruka is gone, Kakashi bends Tenzo over in the alleyway for a rough fuck._

_All-in-all it’s a great memory._

Tenzo is awoken from his rest when Iruka picks his head up and reaches into his vest to pull out a handkerchief. His hands are still a little unresponsive, but he manages to wipe away most of the wetness from his face.

“Let me go grab a med-kit,” he says as his puffy eyes take in the state of their team. He rises on wobbly legs and disappears down the hall.

The team could and probably should attend to themselves, but they are exhausted and chakra depleted from their return home and run through the village. Tenzo is more than content to allow Iruka to tend to them.

Iruka’s face is washed when he returns with the medical supplies. Despite Kakashi being the most heavily injured in the group, Iruka treats a shallow cut on Tenzo’s forearm first.

All the other ROOT operatives ignore Iruka and watch Kakashi instead, waiting for him to betray his emotions - obstinately he does not, and that’s telling enough for them. They will be roasting him later for sure.

Tenzo doesn’t look at Kakashi, he keeps his eyes on Iruka’s pretty face and watches him closely as he works to clean and disinfect the wound. There is nothing malicious in his intent and if anything, he seems especially eager to help so Tenzo doesn’t push him away when Iruka pulls an unfamiliar chakra tag out of his vest. Had it been anyone other than Iruka or had Iruka been working on anyone other than Tenzo, he would have put a stop to the foreign technique; but this is Iruka and Tenzo knows that with his mokuton he has nothing to fear so he forces his instincts back and stays still as Iruka places the tag over the wound and goes through the hand signs to activate it before he pushes a small amount of his chakra through his palms and into the tag. It barely lasts a minute and it doesn’t even sting; it really seems too quick for a medical jutsu but when Iruka pulls the tag off a moment later there is only a faint but delicate pink scar left behind. 

“Color me impressed Iruka-sensei.” Tenzo comments as he examines the scar, it reminds him that the only things of note in Iruka’s file had been his parents’ refugee status from Whirlpool and his natural ability with seals… and that there seemed to be a typo that incorrectly identified Iruka as female.

Kakashi had snorted in derision when he’d read it. When Tenzo asked him about it, he gave the cryptic answer, “ _Iruka is whatever Iruka wants to be_.” When Tenzo had pressed him for more information, Kakashi asked him seriously, “ _Does it really matter?”_

Tenzo had blinked at him in shock; Iruka was certainly pretty enough to be a girl but did it matter if he was born one? Or if he was something in between or even different altogether? Tenzo decided quickly that, no, it didn’t really matter, and although he was genuinely curious about it, he was more than willing to wait for Iruka to share that part of himself with Tenzo.

For countless reasons Tenzo is drawn to Iruka, and that is all that really matters.

Tenzo is drawn to Kakashi too, though for entirely different reasons. Together they bring a sense of completeness to Tenzo’s world and he is content with the thing that they have but he is also excited to see what it might become.

“Just don’t put too much strain on it or it will rip open,” Iruka tells him with a blush, ignoring Tenzo’s praise. “Do you have any more injuries?”

“Nothing that requires chakra, thank you,” Tenzo says after taking a moment to reassess his wounds. As much as he’d like to have Iruka’s hands-on him again the rest of his injuries are superficial and his teammates need to be attended to.

Iruka looks at him for a moment longer, expectantly, “Do you have any orders for me Cat-san?”

The idea of Iruka taking orders from _anyone_ startles him for some reason; even in his new chunin vest Iruka just seems so above doing something so mundane as to take orders. Not only that, but Iruka doesn’t even fall under his jurisdiction, so Tenzo answers honestly, “No, but I would be grateful if you assisted Hound and Weasel with their injuries.”

Iruka smiles sadly at him and nods. It is the first smile Tenzo has seen since he left Konoha for their mission over a month ago.

Tenzo finally feels like he’s home.

When Iruka turns to face Hound he makes a sour face and demands, “Lift up your shirt.”

Tenzo nearly laughs and reflects on his earlier thoughts about Iruka taking orders. Iruka giving orders, especially giving _Kakashi_ orders, sounds exactly right.

“You do it,” Hound replies petulantly, _the idiot_.

Iruka blushes in hot fury, but before he can respond, Yugao interjects.

“I’ll do it,” she says testily, “You just fix Weasel. I’ll get this idiot cleaned up.”

It is a missed opportunity to be close to one another. Iruka and Kakashi can only stare at each other for a moment before turning away, clearly regretting their actions.

They are both so stupid that Tenzo thinks they deserve the nearly oppressive judgment and amusement coming off of the surrounding ROOT shinobi. Well, Kakashi deserves it anyways – Iruka, as the self-proclaimed guardian of the jinchikuri, is an absolute master at being oblivious to the scornful stares of others.

Unfortunately, now that Tenzo is paying closer attention, he realizes that Iruka is on the receiving end of _a lot_ of dirty looks from the rest of the shinobi in the room.

It’s moments like these that Tenzo can’t help but feel pity for the oddball that is Umino Iruka. There are dozens of injured Leaf shinobi and Iruka has chosen to heal the shady members of the pariah organization, ROOT, first. While Tenzo has never paid much attention to village politics, not nearly as much as Kakashi does anyways, he at least understands _this_ much.

Tenzo tightens his fist and tenses his shoulders as he adjusts his head to give the rest of the room a pointed stare. The other ROOT agents pick up on the situation soon enough and there is a silent showdown until the majority of Leaf shinobi finally look away.

Iruka had been ignoring them, seemingly uncaring. Still, the tension he’d held in his shoulders melts when the contemptuous stares are finally off of him. 

When Iruka finishes with Itachi, he moves on to Kakashi once more, finding Yugao finished with the cleaning and disinfection of the wound on his abdomen, it’s larger than Tenzo had thought - they should have probably taken better care of it on the field.

“This is too big to heal with the tags I’ve got,” Iruka mumbles to himself.

Surprisingly Kakashi says nothing, and without further preamble, Iruka starts making the hand signs for an unfamiliar jutsu. Kakashi seems to want to stubbornly follow Tenzo’s lead and hold still even though he has no mokuton to protect him should Iruka’s jutsu be malicious.

Tenzo refrains from shaking his head at the recklessness of it.

Iruka’s hands glow greenish-blue as he passes them over Kakashi’s wound.

“You could have died!” Kakashi accuses him suddenly, apparently just realizing he has a reason to be furious.

“What?!” Iruka exclaims, pulling his glowing hands away and halting the chakra flow to his hands.

“You could have died!” Kakashi repeats angrily, “The healers all turned into monsters! You could have turned into a monster!”

Iruka looks down at himself in shock and then returns Kakashi’s anger in kind, “Okay, well, I didn’t! Why didn’t you say something sooner?!”

“You made it sound like you were going to summon more seals! How was I supposed to know you were competent enough to cast a healing jutsu!” Kakashi grinds back.

“I…!” Iruka is flushed with humiliation, “You are such an idiot!” he shrieks, “Just shut up and hold still!!”

He recasts the jutsu – it’s slightly different this time than it was last time.

“What was that?” Tenzo asks curiously, “Did you change it?”

Tenzo regrets his curiosity immediately because Iruka gives him a frustrated ‘ _how the fuck should I know?!’_ kinda shrug.

“You used a made up jutsu on me?!” Kakashi, the idiot, accuses again, clearly appalled.

“Wh-! Why can’t you _just shut up_!?” Iruka yells, now defensive and accidentally pushing more chakra than necessary into the wound. The scar's skin is too tight, a byproduct of too much healing too fast.

Iruka is frustrated and disappointed, but Kakashi thankfully doesn’t comment; instead, he pulls down his shirt and looks away stubbornly without a hint of gratitude.

Iruka doesn’t wait for any thanks and he moves on to Hawk, an agent from another squad. He asks him politely if he can do anything for him. 

Tenzo observes Hawk for a minute. When he is satisfied with the level of deference he shows to Iruka, Tenzo returns his attention to Kakashi and the burning need he feels to punch Kakashi in the arm.

Yugao beats him to it.

Kakashi lets her.

The idiot deserves it - he has another wound on his collarbone that needs attention, but he doesn’t dare call Iruka back to tend to him.

“Standard jutsu require a specific mindset,” Hawk explains later, when Iruka is finished with the rest of their group and is now across the room and surrounded by Leaf-nin in need of medical attention. Their annoyance with him earlier is gone, now that he is back among their fold where he belongs. “The jutsu wasn’t exactly made up; it was modified to accommodate a substandard mindset.”

“Substandard?” Tenzo asks, keeping his offense on Iruka’s behalf out of his voice.

“He was angry,” Hawk clarifies, “He adjusted the seals to prevent it from affecting the jutsu; it’s pretty amazing, really. You’re lucky he didn’t blow a hole in this idiot’s gut.”

Kakashi remains silent.

They watch Iruka work for the next hour. He is exhausted but seems happy to be of help. Other shinobi have followed his lead and are providing first aid to the others. As Iruka’s energy wanes, they become conservative in their use of his tags and chakra. Once he’s done what he can for the Leaf shinobi, he ambles back into their dark corner of the room.

Iruka glares at Kakashi, daring him to say anything.

Kakashi silently turns his head to expose his injured collarbone; Iruka has been out of tags for a while now, opting to write the seals directly onto the skin instead. As he writes on Kakashi’s torn flesh, Kakashi finally gets the closeness he was craving earlier; but Iruka is too tired for it to be meaningful.

A small pulse of chakra and the wound is healed, “It’s too big for the skin to hold, so I’ll need to bandage it up till I have enough energy for a proper heal.” His hands shake as he reaches for a bandage.

“I can do that.” Itachi offers, “Please rest Iruka-sensei.”

Iruka smiles at him gratefully and hands him the bandage.

“Sleep here?” Tenzo asks, allowing a little hopefulness to leak into his voice.

Iruka blushes but demurely takes a seat between Kakashi and Tenzo and closes his eyes.

“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Iruka asks quietly. His face is pained, and it is clear he is thinking about the children.

“Yes,” Kakashi answers firmly, though Tenzo does not know how he can sound so confident.

Iruka forces a smile and says nothing more. He is out within seconds.

Tenzo doesn’t hesitate to pull Iruka’s head onto his shoulder; he allows himself a small smile of his own before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it.
> 
> I have so many unfinished fics... I'm shocked that I actually started and published a new one... But for some reason I felt compelled to get this out by Halloween; maybe it means I'll finally publish some of the others...


End file.
